Known But to God

From the Wikipedia article on the Tomb of the Unknowns:

Sculpted into the east panel which faces Washington, D.C., are three Greek figures representing Peace, Victory, and Valor. Inscribed on the western panel of the Tomb are the words:

HERE RESTS IN
HONORED GLORY
AN AMERICAN SOLDIER
KNOWN BUT TO GOD

And honor is accorded year-round, not just on Memorial Day:

The Tomb of the Unknowns has been guarded continuously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, since July 1, 1937. Inclement weather does not cause the watch to cease. Even for soldiers, the guards are extremely disciplined and will not show the effect the weather may have on them.

The Tomb Guards, the 3rd United States Infantry (The Old Guard), make personal sacrifices to have the honor of serving. They work on a team rotation of 24 hours on, 24 hours off, 24 on, 24 off, 24 on, and 96 hours off. An average guard takes 8 hours to prepare his uniform (which is solid wool–regardless of the time of year) for the next day’s work. In addition to preparing the uniform, guards also complete physical training, Tomb Guard training, cut their hair before the next work day, and shave twice per day.

Christopher Hitchens on Memorial Day in OpinionJournal:

The stark concept of “The Unknown Soldier” was the best expression of awe and respect that the century of total war managed to produce. Rudyard Kipling, whose only son, John, was posted as “missing” in 1915 (and whose remains were not found until 15 years ago) was the designer of the official headstone for those soldiers who lay in mass graves and could not even be identified. No pacifist, he nonetheless wrote with scorn of the “jelly-bellied flag-flappers” who lectured schoolboys on the glories of combat. Over time, it is the bleak poetry of Wilfred Owen, and not the inspirational verse of Julian Grenfell and Rupert Brooke, that has come to express the more profound experiences of warfare. Some thoughts must always lie too deep for tears

* * *

“Always think of it: never speak of it.” That was the stoic French injunction during the time when the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine had been lost. This resolution might serve us well at the present time, when we are in midconflict with a hideous foe, and when it is too soon to be thinking of memorials to a war not yet won. This Memorial Day, one might think particularly of those of our fallen who also guarded polling-places, opened schools and clinics, and excavated mass graves. They represent the highest form of the citizen, and every man and woman among them was a volunteer. This plain statement requires no further rhetoric.

RELATED: Memorial Day 2006, Why Forget, and Two Prayers for Memorial Day

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